Since 'Clades Variana' was launched a number of questions about the project have frequently arisen on the 'Varus Forum' and via e-mail. Hopefully this page will address at least some of them. Note that some of these 'questions' are actually comments or statements. If you find any question you have is not answered here, then the best place to ask it is the 'Varus Forum'. Alternatively, you can e-mail me directly.1. 'When is this movie being produced/released?'
2. 'I'm a Roman re-enactor - can I help with the costumes and armour?'
3. 'When is more of the Screenplay going to be added?'
4. 'Why does the script have such an outrageous and unjustified Roman/Germanic bias?!'
5. Arminius' real name was 'Hermann'. Why does the script call him 'Erminameraz'?
7. Why does the script depict xxxx? The evidence can be interpreted another way.'
1. 'When is this movie being produced/released?'
At this stage the project is simply an online exercise in producing a screenplay which aims to tell the story of the Varian Disaster without sacrificing historical authenticity. The project is based on the idea that real history is actually more interesting and exciting than 'Hollywoodised' versions or 'westerns-in-togas' like Gladiator. The author welcomes contacts by producers, but is aware that any production of 'Varus' would require an enormous budget and would probably need the backing of a major studio to make it to the screen. It would be great to see it produced one day, but this is unlikely to happen any time soon.
2. 'I'm a Roman re-enactor - can I help with the costumes and armour?'
If 'Varus' ever gets to the production stage the most likely people to be called on for assistance in this regard are re-enactors, whose attention to detail and intricate knowledge would surpass that of any Hollywood artistic director. For now, however, the knowledge and advice of re-enactors is welcomed and encouraged on the 'Varus Forum'.
3. 'When is more of the Screenplay going to be added?'
This project is a personal hobby and one which takes up a lot of time and effort. New sections of the script are added as they are produced and edited from draft versions, but this is dependent on the other demands on the author's time. The short answer to this question is always 'Soon!', but additions will always be periodic and will sometimes take some time. If you want to be alerted to any additions to the script enter your e-mail address in the form on the 'Screenplay' page.
4. 'Why does the script have such an outrageous and unjustified Roman/Germanic bias?!'
For events which occured 2000 years ago, the story of Varus still manages to stir up some very strong feelings amongst modern historians and enthusiasts. Some see the story as the stirring account of the brave victory of the noble Germanic tribes over the evil and corrupt Romans. Others see it as the story of a tragic defeat of the glorious civilisation of Rome at the hands of barbaric and traitorous rebels.
The author would prefer to try to leave such value judgements out of the story and portray the events in a relatively neutral manner. This has led some from both sides described above to see the story told in the script as 'biased' against their perception of what happened - something the author is trying to avoid at all costs. Keep in mind that these things are fairly subjective.
5. Arminius' real name was 'Hermann'. Why does the script call him 'Erminameraz'?
Despite what generations of German school children have been taught, Arminius' name was not 'Hermann' or anything like it. Sometime in the Eighteenth Century German historians began 'germanicising' the name 'Arminius' as 'Hermann'. While 'Hermann' is a German name which began being used in the Middle Ages, there is no evidence that it was used in the First Century, and there's solid linguistic grounds for rejecting it as anything like Arminius' 'real' name.
There are two possibilities regarding the name 'Arminius'. Firsly, it could be an entirely Latin name adopted by Arminius when he served in the Roman army, much as his brother called himself 'Flavus'. Secondly, it could be a Latinisation of his original Germanic name. If the latter, his original name could have been something like '*Erminameraz' or simply '*Erminaz' - both of which are linguistic reconstructions of the Proto-North West Germanic used by the Cherusci and their neighbours. Whatever his name was, it definitely wasn't 'Hermann'.
6. 'Why do the characters in the script use such modern language? People back then didn't speak like that.'
No - people back then used Latin and early Germanic for a start. The idea is to depict the characters using casual, conversational language by using equivalent casual, conversational modern English. There is a strange Hollywood idea that everyone in the past spoke in a weird, pseudo-Shakespearean, archaic idiom, especially when they were discussing or taking part in 'important historical events'. Despite what Hollywood believes, people in the past were in many respects like people today and spoke in normal conversational language most of the time. And people caught up in 'important historical events' rarely realise this at the time, or are too busy dealing with those events to make Hollywood-style speeches to each other.
The author has chosen to depict this kind of everyday idiom using equivalent modern everyday speech, though without anachronistic references or modern slang where possible. In places, such as the dialogue amongst the Roman soldiers, an idiom similar to that of modern British speech is used, largely to indicate the class and rank differences amongst the various Romans.
Some might prefer something more authentic - such as having all the dialogue in Latin and Proto-North West Germanic with subtitles - but this is rather impractical.
7. Why does the script depict xxxx? The evidence can be interpreted another way.'
Historical evidence can be interpreted all kinds of ways and there are usually as many interpretations as there are interpreters. In the case of the story of Varus, we are depending on a handful of fairly brief sources which essentially tell one side of the story and which may well be highly biased. Often the script will depict events happening a certain way, even though the author is well aware that there are other interpretations. Unfortunately it's impossible to write a 'multiple choice' script where all possibilities are explored, so one interpretation has to be chosen for depiction in the story. Usually this choice is made on the basis of how likely the author feels that interpretation is historically, though sometimes an interpretation which has a greater narrative impact will be chosen over a less dramatic alternative. Complete fiction is only resorted to on points where the sources are silent.
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